What is fracking? An information flipbook on shale and tight gas drilling and fracking Gas drilling, Queensland
What is Fracking? Fracking is a new way of getting gas out of the ground by cracking the rocks that hold the gas. Coal seam gas is mined by fracking near the surface, where coal is found. Shale and tight gas are mined much deeper. Northern and Western Australia has mostly shale and tight gas. The East Coast of Australia has mainly coal seam gas. Shale gas and tight gas are mined much deeper. At the back of this flipbook there are maps that show which parts of Western Australia are under licence and application by companies who want to look for oil and gas.
Fracking site, Northern Territory
How are shale & tight gas different from ordinary gas? Shale and tight gas are a lot harder to get than the gas that has been mined in the past ( conventional gas ). Conventional gas is found in one large underground area and flows easily out of the ground. Shale and tight gas are found in layers of rock deep underground. Shale gas is found in shale rocks. Tight gas is usually found in sandstone rocks. There are lots of little holes and cracks holding gas in these rocks. The gas is trapped in the holes and cracks and does not flow out of the rock easily. Gas companies had to find new ways to get this gas. This book explains how the gas companies get shale and tight gas out of the ground.
Horizontal drilling: The shale rock and sandstones are found deep underground. They are often 2 to 5 kilometres deep. The gas companies drill a very deep hole down into the shale rock or sandstone. This is called a gas well. When it gets to the shale rock or sandstone, the drill pipe turns a corner and runs through the rock layer. This is called horizontal drilling.
Fracking (part one): For the gas to flow into the well, it needs pathways in the shale rock or sandstone. The pathways let the gas escape from the holes and cracks in the rock. The gas companies make the pathways using a process called fracking. Fracking involves forcing a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the well at very high pressure. Each time this process happens, it s called a frack. Lots and lots of water is needed for fracking. One frack can use hundreds of truckloads of water. One gas well can be fracked many times. More water is needed for every frack. Lots of chemicals are also used in fracking. Many fracks mean hundreds of drums of chemicals going into the ground. Some of the chemicals used for fracking are poison- a lot more dangerous than household chemicals.
Sand Water Chemicals Fracking mixture
Fracking (part two): The fracking mixture of water, sand and chemicals is pumped down the well at very high pressure. This makes big cracks in the shale rock or sandstone. The cracks are pathways for the gas to flow into the well. The sand holds the cracks in the rock open so gas can flow.
Gas Sand
Fracking (part 3): The fracking mixture is sucked back out of the well. It is put into dams ( frack ponds ). The gas moves along the cracks in the rock and into the well. It flows up to the surface and into pipes. The pipes take the gas to processing plants.
Gas Fracking mixture
Gasfields: The gas companies can t get all the shale or tight gas out with one well, or just a few wells. They need lots and lots of wells to get the gas. They need to make a gasfield. One gas field can have thousands of wells in it. This is what a gasfield looks like. Gasfields spread over very wide areas. There are lots and lots of roads and pipes between all the wells. Lots and lots of trucks are used to build the roads and well sites, and to take water and chemicals to all the wells. Gasfields also have wastewater dams and big, noisy processing plants and compressors. These photos show coal seam gas fields in Queensland. Whilst coal seam gas is different to shale & tight gas, many of the same processes, like fracking, are used. All these sorts of gas need lots and lots of wells, roads, pipelines and noisy infrastructure and use lots of water and dangerous chemicals.
Coal seam gas wells, Queensland
Coal seam gas wastewater treatment plant and holding dam, Queensland
Gas compressor station, Queensland
Dangers of fracking: frack ponds The companies say that fracking mixture is made from additives used in food or for cleaning the house. But many of the chemicals used in fracking are dangerous poisons. There are also salts and poisons in the shale rock and sandstone. These salts and poisons come to the surface with the fracking mixture. This mixture is stored in frack ponds. This is what a frack pond looks like. If frack ponds leak or overflow the poison can get into rivers and creeks. Sometimes the fracking mixture is put into creeks to get rid of it. The fracking mixture can also be pumped back underground or taken away in trucks for dumping in other places. Soil, creeks and rivers can also get polluted if there are fracking chemical spills or wastewater spills. If people and animals drink this poisoned water they can get sick.
Frack pond, Kimberley region, Western Australia
Dangers of fracking: poisoning groundwater Not all the fracking mixture can be sucked out of the ground. Lots of it stays underground. This mixture, and poisons from the shale rock and sandstone, can get into underground water. Some gas can move through underground cracks and escape into the water and air. The escaping gas can sometimes get into people s water bores. Bores with gas in them can be set on fire. If poisons from fracking get into the creeks and bores and people use this water they can get sick.
A landholder s bore in Queensland near coal seam gas wells. When gas leaks into bores, people s water can be set on fire.
Dangers of fracking: poisoning air Gas and other poisonous air pollutants are released from gas wells, pipelines and processing plants and into the air. People can get sick from breathing the polluted air near drilling or fracking sites and processing plants. Communities living near gasfields in the US have reported serious health effects since the gas companies moved in. These health problems include headaches, rashes, nausea and vomiting, nose bleeds and eye and throat irritation. People living near gasfields in Queensland are now also reporting the same problems. Often it is the children living near gasfields who get sick. Traditional fire and land management practices could not co-exist with gasfields or wells due to the risk of escaped gas igniting.
Burning off, Fish River, NT
Overview of risks from fracking and shale gasfields: Clearing of large amounts of bush for roads, gas pipelines and processing plants. Large amounts of water used for drilling and fracking. Risk of spills and leaks of chemicals and wastewater. Poisoned water can get into springs, creeks and rivers. Large amounts of chemicals are used, some of them poisonous. Poisons are released into the air. Fracking and pumping wastewater into the ground can lead to earthquakes. Large areas of country need to be broken up and industrialised for gasfields. Water and air pollution can make people and animals sick. Risk of overflow from frack ponds during the wet season. More ignition sources for bush fires and disruption of traditional burning programs. Burning off, Fish River, NT
Clearing for gas and/or water pipelines, Queensland Gas pipeline corridor, Queensland Coal seam gas flare, Pilliga Forest, NSW Dingo found rotting in frack pond, Kimberley s Region WA
Where are companies looking for oil and gas? These maps show which parts of WA are covered by petroleum exploration applications. Petroleum means oil and gas. The mining companies don t always know what they will find. But there is lots of shale and tight gas in WA: if they want to drill for shale and tight gas, they have to use fracking.
Disclaimer: The drawings in this flipbook are simplified to show what happens in drilling and fracking. They are not meant to be technically correct. They do not show all the processes involved in drilling and fracking.